The Iran-backed Houthis have rebuffed demands from local rights groups in Yemen to release 17 members of the Bahai sect. The group have upped their verbal assault against the religious minority, accusing them of being “infidels and Western stooges.”
On May 25, armed Houthis raided a Bahai gathering in Sanaa and seized 17 people, including five women. They have denied requests from relatives and sect members to meet them or at least reveal their whereabouts.
The UN Human Rights Office demanded that the Houthis immediately release the detained Bahais and allow religious minorities to follow their rituals freely, blaming the Houthis for inciting the local population against the Bahais.—AN
